by Selby, Caleb
Yet, as grand as the view from the Crown was, it paled in comparison to the interior spectacle of the restaurant. Essentially one very large open room, the Crown’s interior was a collection of suspended levels fixed at differing heights, much like large extensions of a giant spiral staircase. Circumscribed by the levels was a massive, cylindrical aquarium filled with an amazing variety of colored fish, rays, serpents and other unique marine oddities that occupied the two small seas of Namuh Prime. There was even a unique specimen of translucent nova fish taken from the southern ocean on Zelin IV.
At the topmost level of the magnificent staircase was a platform on which several musicians played soft, captivating music that seemed to take everyone away from the thoughts of war and doom outside the Crown’s walls, if even just for a few hours.
“So, tell me more about yourself,” said Darion as he put his glass down and leaned onto the table. “Have you always wanted to be a concierge?”
Reesa shook her head. “Its not exactly every little girl’s dream. But then again, not everyone can grow up to be an asteroid princess now can they?”
Darion shrugged. “Could have fooled me.”
Reesa rolled her eyes. “How about you? Have you always wanted to be in the military?”
Darion smiled. “Only after they said I couldn’t be an asteroid princess.”
Reesa laughed.
“So where did you grow up?” Darion asked. “You strike me as a big city girl. Maybe Larep or Corinth?”
Reesa nearly choked on her cava. “Lets talk about something else.”
“Why? Got something to hide?” Darion asked with a flirtatious smile.
Reesa shook her head. “I just don’t like to talk about it.”
“No worries,” said Darion with a shake of the head. “If it makes you feel any better, I grew up in Kespa.”
“Kespa? Now where have I heard that before?” Reesa said. “Oh, isn’t that what that trash guy mentioned the other day?”
“Yeah,” Darion said with an unenthusiastic nod, wishing he could keep Kebbs out of his mind for just ten uninterrupted minutes.
“What was all that about anyway?” Reesa asked and took another sip. “He seemed so on edge. Everything ok there?”
Darion shook his head. “It was nothing really. He was just someone I grew up with. Nothing more.”
“Friend?” Reesa asked.
“Hardly,” said Darion.
“What did he want?”
“It’s complicated,” answered Darion with a shake of his head. “No need to worry yourself about it.”
“I see,” Reesa said hesitantly nodding. “So, what was Kespa like?”
Darion looked at Reesa as if she were joking.
“Did I say something wrong?” she asked.
“You don’t know about Kespa?” he asked in disbelief.
Reesa shook her head. “Afraid not. I’ve not been in this area very long.”
Darion relaxed and shook his head. “It’s no loss for you believe me. Frankly, I wish I didn’t know about it either.”
“That bad?”
“Lets put it this way. Kespa is the slum that gives other slums a bad name.”
“I’m sorry,” Reesa said as she began to tinker with her menu buttons.
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault. It’s just the way my cards fell,” remarked Darion. “My parents both died when I was young and my kid brother and I were sent to live with my uncle.” Darion took another sip of his drink and then leaned back. “Once the Refrac War broke out, he went away to fight and never came back. After that, we were pretty much on our own.”
Reesa shook her head in sympathy. “How old were you?”
“I was twelve,” answered Darion. “My brother was eight.”
“That must have been hard,” commented Reesa. “Taking care of your brother that is.”
Darion nodded as a flood of memories, many of them bad, raced through his mind. “It wasn’t easy,” he finally said. “I didn’t know what I was doing half the time but he always had complete confidence in me. He always trusted that I would take care of him. I wish I could have done better.”
“I’m sure you did the best you could have,” said Reesa. “That’s a lot of responsibility to place on a child.”
Darion shrugged.
“Do you two stay in touch?”
“He died when he was seventeen,” said Darion somberly, picturing his brother and last living family member vividly in his mind’s eye. “He would have been twenty-seven this year.”
“I’m so sorry,” said Reesa compassionately, aware from looking at Darion’s face that the years had done little to dull the pain.
“Me too,” said Darion with a far off look in his eyes.
The two sat there for several minutes starring blankly at the table saying nothing.
“I grew up on Voigt,” Reesa finally stated and then peeked up to see Darion’s reaction.
Darion’s eyes grew with astonishment. “You’re a colonist?”
“Is that so hard to believe?” asked Reesa.
“I’m just surprised I guess,” confessed Darion. “You handle yourself so well.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Reesa asked harshly.“That colonists aren’t normal folk?”
Darion shook his head. “That’s not what I meant at all. It’s just that, you know, a lot of the colonists act different from home-worlders. I just never got that vibe from you. I wasn’t trying to insult the colonists by any means. Hey, they’re heroes in my mind. If it wasn’t for them, where would we all be now?”
“On an overcrowded, overtaxed desert planet with not enough food or water to go around,” responded Reesa harshly.
Darion lowered his head and looked at the table awkwardly, wishing he hadn’t reacted as overtly as he had to Reesa’s revelation.
A moment later however, Reesa shook her head and smiled. “I’m sorry I snapped at you. I’m just a little sensitive about it because a lot of people disapprove of us coming back to home world. Lots of people think that it’s unpatriotic to leave our colony and they treat us like second rate citizens for doing it.”
“I’m sorry,” Darion said. “I wasn’t trying to give you a hard time, really. You are anything but a second rate citizen to me.”
“Thanks,” she said and looked up into Darion’s eyes.
Darion smiled and then took the last sip of his drink. “So tell me Reesa,” he said placing his empty glass down. “As long as it’s out now, how did you move back?”
Reesa shrugged. “It’s a really long story and I’m not sure if even I know it all but basically it came down to my parents.”
“How so?” prodded Darion.
“My parents signed up to go to Voigt when I was six years old. They thought it was their best shot to live a normal life, and considering where they were at the time, they made the right choice, at least that’s what they’ve told me. But as I grew older, they both realized that they didn’t want me to live the near slave-like conditions of a colonist’s life. Sure it saved them from poverty, but they wanted something more for me than spending fifteen hours a day maintaining the colony domes or tending the crop wells.”
“So they sent you back here? Just like that? I thought it was nearly impossible to leave a colony.”
“It very nearly is,” Reesa said shaking her head. “It cost them just about everything they owned plus extra work shifts for life to arrange it. And, as much as I protested at their sacrifices, they insisted on it.” She finished and then looked down at the table, obviously fighting back tears. “All they asked for in return was for me to come back here and make them proud.”
Darion had heard about how bad the living conditions were on some of the colonies, but he had never actually thought about it long enough to feel sorry for any of them before. He had always just assumed that they had asked for it by agreeing to be colonists in the first place. But the truth of the matter was that most of them didn’t have a choice. They were too poo
r to live on the home world in anything less then complete poverty and their only chance at a halfway normal life was to sign on as a colonist and go to some forsaken rock and become a slave to the system that kept the colony one step ahead of collapse.
He was still thinking about it when he noticed Reesa still valiantly attempting to fight back tears. Not knowing what else to do or say, he reached his hand across the table till it met hers. She quickly looked up at him.
“I’m sorry I’m being such a wreck,” she said as she looked around for something to dab her fast filling eyes.
“It’s ok,” Darion said as he gently rubbed the back of her hand. “You’ve been through a lot.”
“No more than you have,” she answered as she dabbed her eyes with her napkin. “At least my parents are still alive.”
“Are you ready to order?” a tall man with a neatly trimmed mustache asked as he approached their table. “Oh, pardon me,” he said after noticing Reesa’s tears. “I’ll come back later, yes?” the waiter finished and took half a step away.
“No, no,” Reesa answered motioning for him to return. “I’m fine, really.”
“The kitchen staff and I are in no rush tonight,” the waiter said with an understating expression. “You are at the Crown,” he added in a tone of earned pride mixed with warm invitation. “If you need some time, then time you shall have. If you need more cava, then cava you shall have. Any and everything we have to offer is yours for the asking. Do not be shy.”
Reesa smiled. “I’m fine, really.”
The waiter hesitantly returned to the side of table. “Very well. What can I...” the waiter started to say but was interrupted by a shriek followed by a loud commotion near the ground level, which caused the music above to stop abruptly. “Oh, what is it now?” he said frustratingly as he walked to edge of their level. “Please pardon the delay. I will be right back,” he added and began to descend the levels.
Darion and Reesa looked at each other curiously and then peered over the railing just in time to spot half a dozen armed Sentinels in full body armor begin to ascend the levels. Two others were talking hastily with an irate manager and hostess while still several others ran across the floor to cover exits.
“Wonder what’s going on?” Darion wondered out loud as he looked up at Reesa, who was suddenly white as a ghost. “You ok there?” he asked.
“They’re on to me,” Reesa said quietly, and sat back in her chair dejectedly. “I failed.”
Darion smiled like Reesa was joking. “Oh come on. You can take them!”
Reesa shook her head. “I don’t have time to mess around Darion! They’ll be here in just a minute. I should have moved faster but there wasn’t a good time. I saw them watching earlier and didn’t want to risk it.”
“Them?” Darion asked in disbelief pointing down the stairs. “What are you talking about Reesa? Those are Sentinels. There’s nothing in the world they could possibly want with you unless you killed the President.”
“Shut up and listen!” Reesa said, raising her hand for quiet. “We’re all in danger! Everyone on the planet is in grave danger!”
“From what? Krohns?” asked Darion in bewilderment. “We can take them Reesa. My soldiers will be in the arctic under the hole sometime tomorrow. We’ll all be fine. Relax.”
Reesa shook her head in frustration, unable to convey all she wanted to. “Kebbs was right Darion! The Clear Skies System is compromised which means the Krohns can land an entire army wherever they wish! It also means it can target our own ships...including your transports! If you fly the army there it will get shot down!” She shook her head. “You’ve been used by our enemies to prepare us for an apocalypse! I know you didn’t let it happen on purpose, but you did it all the same. Our only hope left is to stop the troops from leaving and even that may not be enough at this point!”
Darion looked at Reesa in shock. “You know about Kebbs and Clear Skies?”
“You there!” a Sentinel suddenly called out, pointing at Reesa from one level below. “Step away from the table and keep your hands where we can see them!”
Darion and Reesa hardly had time to react before three other armed men reached their level and gathered round the table, their weapons drawn and patience dangerously thin.
“No funny business now!” the Sentinel said from behind his face-concealing helmet. “I have a warrant for your arrest sweetheart. Now just stay calm, and nobody will get hurt. Got it?”
“What is the meaning of this?” Darion said, throwing his napkin to the table and standing to his feet. “Do you know who I am?”
“Yes I do General and that’s why we’re here,” the lead Sentinel said as he took another step toward Reesa, withdrawing a pair of cuffs from a vest pocket and clicking them open. “This little devil here is wanted in a plot to feed you disinformation on behalf of our enemies. But don’t worry, Sir. You’re safe now.”
Darion looked at Reesa and then back at the Sentinel. He wasn’t sure what to believe.
Reesa looked up at Darion pitifully and then leaned over the table and kissed him on the cheek. “The enemy is amongst us,” she whispered. “Stay alive! We need you!”
“I said back away from the General missy!” the Sentinel yelled.
Reesa stood erect, and slowly took a step away from Darion, all the while staring into his eyes.
“Now turn around slowly!” he commanded, keeping his weapon directed with Reesa.
It appeared as if she was going to quietly comply when she abruptly stopped. Before Darion knew what happened Reesa had spun around and kicked the weapon out of the lead Sentinel’s hands, inadvertently causing it to fire a burst of laser rounds straight into the aquarium, instantly shattering the glass. Water, fish, and a dozen other creatures suddenly came pouring down, causing instant panic on the lower levels.
For the briefest of moments, the disarmed Sentinel flashed from his imposing form into a monstrous spidery figure with a collection of slithering appendages flexing beneath a sinister alien face. The glowing narrow eyes of the beast glared at Reesa with a lifeless gaze that resonated contempt while two rows of mighty teeth were revealed behind parted gaunt lips as if anxious to feed. Yet as fast as the horrifying sight appeared, it vanished, replaced once more by the form of the Sentinel.
Before Darion could process the surreal events being played out before him, Reesa sent another highflying kick into the Sentinel’s head with enough force to propel him over the railing. He plummeted downward with the flow of rushing water until he violently fell upon the bar, several levels below, shattering glasses and bottles and adding a striking stream of red into the running water. Before Reesa could continue her rampage, several stun rounds from the accompanying Sentinel’s struck her, bringing her to the ground in an unconscious thud.
Still speechless at the unfolding spectacle, Darion watched helplessly as the Sentinels tightly bound Reesa’s hands and feet and began to carry her down the stairs, wading through flopping fish and ankle-deep water as they went. When they reached the bottom floor, they assumed a single file column and marched out of the door in good military order with two carrying Reesa between them and two carrying their dead team member recovered from the bar.
Darion was stunned. What had just happened? Just an hour earlier Reesa was a cute concierge in high heels and designer clothes that he was fast developing a crush for. Now she was kicking Sentinel’s to their deaths prior to being arrested for reasons not entirely clear. Nothing was as it seemed.
Darion shook his head as images of Armid, Trivis, Kebbs, Reesa and the monster flashed in his mind. Who was telling the truth? Who could he trust? Was Clear Skies really compromised? Should his army stay in Larep or head to the arctic? Question after question flooded his mind. He had answerers for none of them.
He had just decided on filing a formal complaint with the Sentinel Service when he spotted something on the table beside Reesa’s place setting. It was a small envelop bulging with something within. He pushed aside the
napkin that half obscured it from view and picked it up. A hastily scribbled word on the face of the envelope spelled his name. Nothing more.
Darion glanced over his shoulder to ensure he was alone before quickly tarring open the package and examining the contents. Two items were inside the envelope and each perplexed the General to no end. The first was a folded piece of paper. Upon unfolding it, Darion read the words ‘Origin Codex’ scrawled across it. Having no clue what this meant and not having time to dwell on it even if he did, he refolded it and shoved it into his pocket. The other item within the package was equally peculiar, a lydeg firing adapter ring. Darion had seen many different lydeg adapters and accessories in his tenure with the military but never one that looked quite like this. The exterior was golden in color and contained three small black dials along the side, their purpose being foreign to Darion. Upon close examination of the band’s interior, Darion was once again struck by the unique and bizarre design. A series of intricate lenses and precision cut prisms circumscribed a tiny transparent bladder that was filled with a glowing fluid of some sort.
Darion had no clue what the adapter was for and even less of a clue why Reesa would have it there with his name on it. These feelings of ignorance and confusion were beginning to feel commonplace. His mind began to go numb with the staggering number of absurdities and unknowns swirling about him. In his confused stupor he thrust the adapter into the same pocket as the cryptic note and without giving it much more thought, turned to leave.
His shoes splashed through the contents of the aquarium as he made his way to the top of the stairway. As he stood there preparing to make his decent a singular thought suddenly stood out in the chaos of his mind. He was alone.
***
The massive swirling blue chasm shimmered with the enchanting blue luminosity that only a warp-point could produce. The color saturated every nook and crevice on every vessel of the Sixth Fleet as they approached, undaunted by the power before them. Electrical bolts shot out from the eye at irregular intervals, a testament of the tremendous power and at times, unpredictable nature of the spatial anomaly. Dozens of space buoys cluttered the approach, guiding Fedrin’s humble fleet toward the jump.